Effi Briest

Fassbinder's exquisitely subtle rendition of Fontane’s great novel, starring the great Hanna Schygulla as the titular 17-year-old who is forced into a socially advantageous marriage with a much older man.

Fassbinder's exquisitely subtle rendition of Fontane’s great novel of 1896. The plight of 17-year-old Effi (Hanna Schygulla) – forced into a socially advantageous marriage with a much older man – is touchingly depicted, but what really interests Fassbinder is the novelist’s complex attitude to the society of his day. This is no melodrama, but a meticulous dissection of a literary masterpiece.